Summary Of The Book 'The Watsons Go To Birmingham'

The Watson live in Flint, Michigan. All the kids go to school at Clark Elementary and Byron is in 6th grade. Kenny, the one who is narrating the book is in 4th grade. The little sister Joetta (Joey) is in kindergarten. Kenny is bullied at the school by Larry Dunn, the “king” of 4th grade. A new kid comes into school named Rufus from Arkansas, he is poor and he talks Southern Kenny is glad that they have a new kid to be bullied but they become friends.

In the two texts, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” by Christopher Curtis and “16th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” by Jessica McBirney the authors both use the church bombing event to develop their own central ideas. In the text, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” by Christopher Curtis the central idea focuses on how the event affected a few families personally, and the whole community in a different way. This is shown when the main character Kenny thinks his sister was killed in the bombing, though she was not. In the text, “16th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” by Jessica McBirney the central idea focuses on that the bombing didn’t just affect the girls, but the entire nation leading to the signing of the civil rights act by President Lyndon

In 'Ballad of Birmingham,' Dudley Randall illustrates a conflict between a child who wishes to march for civil rights and a mother who wishes only to protect her child. Much of this poem is read as dialogue between a mother and a child, a style which gives it an intimate tone and provides insight to the feelings of the characters. Throughout the poem the child is eager to go into Birmingham and march for freedom with the people there. The mother, on the other hand, is very adamant that the child should not go because it is dangerous. It is obvious that the child is concerned about the events surrounding the march and wants to be part of the movement. The child expresses these feelings in a way

In the novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 Byron was not a good person in the beginning he did not do good stuff. For example, he was using matches 2 times. Although his parents said again not to use matches. Momma said what she always did if Byron uses matches again.

The difference of bullying and being a bully, isn 't as simple as it appears to be. S.E. Hinton’s second novel titled, That was Then this is Now is a mature disciplined novel sharing the “Voice of the Youth” according to the New York Times and other raving reviews. The story follows Bryon and his friend Mark whom are “as close as brothers.” Things change in the two characters lives, Bryon is growing up and spending a lot of time with girls, thinking about seriously, who he want to be. Mark, on the other hand, has always lived for the thrill of life’s moments. The two start to divert from each other, while still holding onto the brotherly like love they still have—until Bryon finds

Have you ever been treated unfairly? Well, in the book The Watsons go to Birmingham in 1963 they were in the middle of the civil rights movements, they were fighting to be treated equally. The main theme is stopping segregation here are three examples ,the Watson family couldn't go to the same school as whites, they couldn't use the same restrooms, they couldn't go to the same church in peace.

In The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963, the Watson Family travels down to Alabama to teach Byron a lesson. The Watsons take a huge risk by traveling down south. Because there are so many negative possibilities, it was not worth it for the watsons to go to Birmingham.

In the fictional novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham there were several historically accurate cultures and events from the 1960’s. Most of the story is based on the mother wanting to go to Alabama, because that’s where her family is. However her husband doesn’t think it is a good idea because he knows there is segregation down in the south, and he doesn’t want his kids to see all the hatred for people of a different skin color. Their children have not been exposed the separation of different skin colors because they live in Flint, Michigan, where there is not a lot of conflicts about segregation. Yet, at some point the family decides to make the long trip to Birmingham. Before they leave for their trip, their dad goes and buys a record player

Kenny is the bully of the group. He is constantly making fun of Frank and Tub, playing on their insecurities. Kenny is the stereotypical alpha male. He has to be in

Published in 1995 by Christopher Paul Curtis, The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a story of an African- American family living in a town of Flint, Michigan, having a journey to Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The movie came out in 2013, similar to the original novel. This loving family consists of five members: Byron Watson, an official juvenile delinquent, Kenneth Bernard Watson, ten years old boy with a lazy eye, Joetta Watson, an obedient youngest Watson, Wilona Sands Watson, Momma who always look after her kids, and lastly, David Watson, a thoughtful reliable dad. In fact, the movie is quite different from the novel, because the plot events don’t match with the movie, there is fused resolution, there is some missing and different characters, and the focus of the theme are slightly different.

     The Ballad of Birmingham resembles a traditional ballad in that it tells a story in a song-like manner. The didactic tone seeks to teach us something; in this case it’s the theme of needless destruction. There are many devices the author uses to create such a tone and to tell such a story.

Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the grief of losing a child. The mother feels responsible for the death of her child. The dramatic irony of the mother’s view of church as being a “safe haven” for her child is presented to the reader through the mother’s insistence that the young girl

The tragic poem, “The Ballad of Birmingham,” begins with a young child asking an imploring question to her mother, “May I go downtown instead of out to play” (Randall, 669)?

“When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourself,”--Viktor E. Frankl (www.brainyquote.com). In the novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, Byron (“By”) Watson changes the most. At the beginning of the novel, Byron does not seem to care about his siblings, but throughout the story he becomes more protective of his younger siblings, Joetta and Kenny. He used to be very rude, but now he is being very respectful towards his family and friends.

Bully: One who is habitually cruel to smaller or weaker people (The American Heritage Dictionary 2007). An aggressive person who intimidates or mistreats weaker people, (Encarta dictionary, 2012).